Humanitarian aid for 23,000 elderly people. How does the address food delivery work?

In January the address delivery of food from Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center has already been provided to nearly 500 elderly people in Donetsk and the adjacent towns. Over the entire period of the Center's address delivery project the humanitarian aid was provided to more than 23,000 elderly people.

One work day of the Humanitarian Center's volunteers and the partners from 'Responsible citizens', who deliver humanitarian aid, includes several dozens of addresses across Donetsk and the adjacent towns.

"We visited elderly ladies and gentlemen in Makiivka, delivered them food packages from Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center. We had 15 addresses in our list – 15 destinies, 15 survival stories, 15 hopes... (Actually we had several teams of 'Responsible citizens' who left for different towns, that is why there was much more humanitarian aid delivered to people), – Donetsk resident Larisa Lisnyak shared her impressions about one of the trips in her Facebook profile. – These trips are the mutual support, and we need it as much as these elderly people... After meeting these people, when you see their living conditions and how much effort it takes them to reach the door, it is really amazing that they still hold you and cheer you up".

The beneficiaries visited by volunteers are civilians of the most vulnerable categories: single disabled people of the 1st and the 2nd groups, who cannot move on their own; single severely ill persons; people who had operative interventions or complex chronic diseases that can be proved by documents; single retired people older than 60, who cannot move on their own.

82-year-old Maria Vasylivna has a similar situation. She lives with her disabled daughter. They live for the minimum pension, daughter's allowance and humanitarian aid. "Oh, dear, we had some bad things happened to us recently! We have been robbed – they broke in and demanded to give them money. My daughter and I got so scared... We gave all that small money we had... We still cannot come to our senses....", – Maria Vasylivna shares.

This aid is the real source of survival for elderly and disabled people enfeebled by war. And many of them are expecting volunteers as their dearest guests, or even their only guests in some cases. Most of the address delivery recipients are retired people much older than 60.

"I am home! Knock louder or call me". This note of 89-year-old Yevdokiya Ivanivna informed us that she's waiting for our arrival. The next note is on the entrance to the building: "Don't close the door, I am waiting for humanitarian aid". We go up the stairs and ring the doorbell. It takes Valentyna Tarasivna quite long to walk to the entrance door. She doesn't look 80 at all. She is smiling and has a great number of funny jokes... Her age can be recognized only from her cane and the phrase: "I won't sit down, because if I do, I may not get up. I'd rather go to my bed and lay down later", – Larisa Lisnyak shares.

80% of those who receive the food products live in Donetsk, in the districts that suffered from military actions the most. Makiivka is on the second place according to the number of applications. Many calls are also coming from residents of the adjacent towns and settlements.

Address delivery of humanitarian aid from Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center is provided in Donetsk, Makiivka, Khanzhonkove, Khartsyzk, Yenakiieve, Snizhne, Shakhtarsk and Torez. To be provided with food packages, please leave your application via the Humanitarian Center's hotline: 0800 509 001. You can see the rules for address delivery here.